LETTER FROM THE EDITORS
DEAR READERS,
WHAT IS BLACKNESS?
This is the question we started this issue with. To answer the question, our
contributors chose different black individuals to write about and explore the
ways in which they created their own variations of what it means to be black. One
of our contributors even stretched the definition of blackness by profiling Sun
Araw, a musician who isn’t black but produces “black” music. Since defining
blackness is elusive, our contributors attempted to depict variations of blackness
as a way of highlighting its multiplicity.
In many ways the Afrofuturism movement inspired this issue. By thinking
of black people in the future, Afrofuturism inherently re-imagines blackness. As
Eshun writes in Further Considerations: “the manufacture, migration, and
mutation of concepts and approaches within the fields of the theoretical and the
fictional, the digital and the sonic, the visual and the architectural exemplifies
the expanded field of Afrofuturism.” Eshun asserts that evolution and adaptation
is essential to blackness. Thus, these modes of blackness we present echo
Afrofuturism’s focus on moving black bodies out of the past to both explore and
expand their role in the future.
We love the format of magazines: it’s bright, colorful, entertaining. It’s easy to
pick up and start perusing at any page, for any reason. Choose the facet of
blackness that interests you most, and begin there. Or page through for the ads,
each of which is also an Afrofuturistic piece in its own right. Or, if you trust us,
follow the table of contents and let us show you each story in order, building
resonance through their organization. We love the internet: the sounds as well as
the sights, the power to move across worlds with a single click, the instantaneous
satisfaction. Explore the videos, articles, and readings embedded within this
magazine. Click. Search. Discover.
We hope that in reading this issue, your definition of blackness begins to
shift, expand, and evolve. Please enjoy!